IsaanT

C-130's have reverse thrust. Don't believe me...

Read my next post (above)... C'mon, you can do better if you try.

I now use the paid version of ChatGPT. It isn't faster but the crucial difference for me is that you can upload documents, data, screenprints, etc. and it can interpret and analyse them. Apart from all the other things that others benefit from, I have been using it intensely over the past few days to help me develop a successful stockmarket trading method. Firstly, I should point out that I didn't benefit from asking it how to make money on the markets (I tried that, somewhat retrospectively, yesterday to satisfy my curiosity and its suggestions were not good performers). My approach was to develop the shell of an approach myself, describe it to ChatGPT and then upload historic market data for it to back-test according to my instructions. It would then produce a performance summary and a fully-documented spreadsheet that I can download. The original shell of an idea still remains but it has been refined continuously based on test runs. I should also point out that it is not fiendishly complex - quite the opposite: I could explain it in five minutes and a ten-year old could recognise the buy and sell signals on a chart visually. Again, it couldn't come up with my answer by itself but it has been a tireless assistant to crunch the numbers, write the Python code for APIs, provide insight into the times and effectiveness of different trading sessions for specific markets around the world, make helpful and challenging suggestions, etc. I know some of you might be wondering about its accuracy, and whether I could rely on the results. That would be a good question. I have used the spreadsheet results to manually verify that theoretical trade successes - and fails - would, indeed, have occurred. It took a while but the latest model is pretty bullet-proof. The bottom line? If you started with 1,000 units of currency (pounds, dollars, baht, etc.) and traded Gold, USDJPY and GBPUSD for the last six months, you'd have 12,000 units of your chosen currency now. I compound the returns - the results start getting exponential after a while... Although the method is not fully complete yet (I'm a pragmatic perfectionist), I saw a strong signal on Gold a couple of days ago so did a small trade and it's paid for my ChatGPT subscription for the next few years. Other uses? a) I used it a while back to write a specific usufruct agreement - in Thai and English - for my land (I'm aware of a friend who paid a Thai lawyer around 60,000 Baht for essentially the same thing) b) It provides insightful information when I ask it about cultural differences between the UK and Thailand, particularly for certain situations that occur (I know Google can do similar but ChatGPT just does it at another level) b) It produced a tailored exercise programme for me to meet specific aims a couple of weeks ago, and I'm already feeling and seeing the improvements There is so much more but there's no need to reproduce what's already been said by other enlightened users. The key to success is to ask detailed questions. Invest the time to craft the question and you will reap the reward in the answer. It benefits from knowing context, constraints (budget, time, resources, etc.), aims and/or objectives, personal preferences, etc. (just like if you asked a carefully-formed question to a human - it isn't rocket-fuel science...). As an example, if I said 'Suggest a simple meal I can cook for dinner tonight' you can probably now guess the response. However, if I said 'Suggest three simple meals I can cook tonight so I can choose one to use. It needs to feed two people and I am limited to 30 minutes for preparation and cooking. I have eggs, milk and butter in the fridge, various meats in the freezer and could pick up other ingredients locally in preparation.', you'll get a much better response. And if you baulk at the time taken to prepare the question thoroughly, don't worry - AI just isn't for you. 😉

The quality of the answer from AI very much depends on the quality of the question. Your apparent 'brief and succinct' style will elicit similar replies.

My personal experience is that people who are always smiling often have something to hide (personal insecurity, traumatic past, etc.). It is normal to smile occasionally, when one has a reason to do so.

I beg to differ. I just learned this from your post and tried it for myself - marvellous! Labelling of the button or on-screen instructions would be helpful but, as Thai IT goes, the function is good and helpful. Thanks!

The fact that the passengers had no input into the success of the flight meant that six inert teddy bears could have occupied the capsule's seats and the flight would have had the same outcome, so calling the passengers 'astronauts' is demeaning to those who actually are.

Do we think this is a partial cave-in...? It's certainly not holding the line defiantly, is it? Apparently, Peter Navarro (and his alter ego Ron Varo... ) have been sidelined in the White House and Scott Bessent, Secretary of the Treasury (and a rather sensible-sounding chap) is the main contact negotiating international tarriff agreements and advising Trump now.

Hi @Crossy. Is there some way to contact you offline? Thanks.

The 80% majority appear not to understand the enormity of the issue, nor the personalities and cultures involved in this scenario. China will not blink first. China also appears to be selling US bonds overnight from its massive stockpile. China selling U.S. bonds = higher interest rates, more expensive borrowing, and possibly slower U.S. economic growth — like putting a little brake on the US economy. Trump has picked a fight with the wrong guys. China doesn't like being bullied so it appears to be retaliating. And there's nothing the US or anybody else can do to stop them.

Does that fact support the approach to not get married to one's Thai partner in the first place?

An usufruct agreement is a good thing to have for the foreign partner/Thai house-owner situation. A Thai usufruct agreement is a legal arrangement that grants a person (often a foreigner) the right to use and benefit from a property—typically a house—owned by a Thai national, without owning the land itself. Under this agreement: The foreigner (usufructuary) can live in the house, rent it out, or otherwise use it for their benefit. The Thai landowner retains ownership of the land, but must respect the usufruct holder’s rights for the duration of the agreement. A usufruct can be granted for the lifetime of the foreigner or for a set period (often up to 30 years). It must be registered at the Land Office to be legally enforceable and to provide real security of tenure. This arrangement is commonly used by foreigners in long-term relationships or business partnerships with Thai nationals to secure long-term use of a property without violating Thai land ownership laws. It's very simple to arrange.

"Zero-dollar" refers to investments or business activities that bring little to no real economic benefit to the lcoal Thail economy, especially to its people. This term often implies that: The capital or goods involved are entirely controlled or supplied by foreign entities (in this case, Chinese), without significant local involvement. Local resources, labour, or services are minimally used, so the money generated doesn’t circulate within the Thai economy. Profits are repatriated, meaning they're sent back to the investors' home country instead of being reinvested locally. A related example is "zero-dollar tours", which refers to Chinese tour groups where Chinese-owned companies manage every part of the trip - from travel to shopping to accommodation - so Thai businesses don't benefit, even though the tours occur in Thailand. In short, "zero-dollar" investments and exports are seen as a drain rather than a boost, because they generate economic activity on paper but don't help local communities or industries. That's why experts are concerned - it’s growth that looks good in stats but skips over the people.

My weekdays always start with getting our adopted three-year old boy off to school. Then we return and I play with his nearly two-year old brother, and think of the next thing to teach them both. We're starting our house build later this month. There is never a dull moment (I think my brain would atrophy if I spent all day on the beach or in bars but each to their own).

Be fair chaps, it must be very tiring for the OP who is clearly suffering from Dissociative Identity Disorder (DID) (formerly known as multiple personality disorder).

Borrowing money from friends and family is the normal way of things here in Thailand. Here in the rural northeast, I notice signs this year that family incomes are getting squeezed. Around half the locals are involved in rice farming. Last year India decided to start exporting rice again so the price of Thai rice has been depressed and farmers are hanging on to their stocks as long as they can because early season prices are low because of the huge supply, then improve as the supply thins out. Twice in the last two weeks we've been openly approached at the local market to ask if we want to buy another rice field. I've lent money to three separate members of our extended Thai family and haven't had any back yet. They are good and kind people - they've done all sorts of things to help us - but they now aren't in a position to repay the loans. They are not big amounts and I am pleased to have helped them but I have told my partner that they'll be no more loans until the original ones are repaid, so she can propogate that message out to the relatives (the main loan was to be repaid at harvest time but, as mentioned above, they are hoarding their rice, waiting for prices to improve). Lastly, I didn't add any interest on the loans but I am aware of one Thai widow who has made some personal loans to friends and charged them 20%. She's also not getting any repayments. Overall, it's only going to get worse.

When it's done, it's done! 🙂 If you do ask for comment I'll be careful what I say so nobody loses face. I hope it goes well for you.

You're right. This topic reminds me that George Bernard Shaw once said that America and the UK were 'two nations divided by a common language'. It seems apposite in this thread. BTW, most people think it was Winston Churchill who said it but that's incorrect.

Personally, I think Americans should accept responsibility for their deviations from the King's English and call their language American. Then you can spell colour whichever way you want and nobody will get upset. Just don't call what you use English because that irks those of us that use our language correctly (and thus pronounce the 't' in often...). 😉

We get the same thing out in the sticks every year, leading up to Songkran.

There may be a mix-up in terminology here, or I've misinterpreted something. What we're looking at in your photo is a swarm of bees. There's no honey to be had from a swarm (honey is only ever stored in the wax honeycomb in a hive). Now if the hive from which the bees swarmed is nearby (it should be within a few hundred metres) and its location is known, that's potentially an opportunity to get some honey, although there will be a small colony of bees left in the original hive and they probably want to keep it. 🙂 The only other possibility I can see is that the bees have been in the tree for some time (several weeks, minimum), and made a nest there. If so, there may be wax and honey.

Hi. I am an experienced beekeeper. Unfortunately, I'm down in Roi Et otherwise I'd come and remove them for you. The chances are that they are apis mellifera, the European honey bee (your photo certainly looks like it). Your climate there suits them and most Thai honey is produced in your region; unfortunately, it's slightly too hot for them here. I used to collect local swarms for our bee club members back in Cambridgeshire prior to emigrating (we would re-house collected swarms in members' hives). The method is very simple. Put a large box or container (plastic dustbin) under the swarm and give the tree branch they are hanging from a hefty knock. The bees will fall into the container. Obviously some will fly around but the magic now occurs. The chances are good that the queen (who is in the swarm somewhere) falls in the box. The bees in the container will stay there, even though the top of the container is open. The workers (all the other bees in the swarm) are attracted to her pheromones and, if they're not already, make their way into the box to join her. Have a cup of tea. Typically, after 30-60 minutes, all the bees are together in the box. Put the lid on (or close the flaps of a cardboard box) and then transport it away. You will be able to find videos on YouTube if you look for 'swarm collection'. Usually, despite their intimidating appearance, swarms are actually very docile. It sounds like your bees are agitated so anyone attempting this does need to wear a bee suit. p.s. I recently acquired two hives of miniature stingless bees (apis melipona). They're slightly smaller than house flies but, as the name suggests, are totally harmless and are great pollinators. 995THB for each hive, on Shopee.

The claim that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy was prepared to sign a peace agreement with Russia in 2021 but was dissuaded by then-UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson lacks substantial evidence. Notably, in a February 2025 interview, President Zelenskyy addressed and dismissed such assertions, labeling them as "illogical." He emphasized that there were multiple approaches involving ultimatums from Russia, none of which received his approval, and stated that Boris Johnson had no influence over his decisions regarding negotiations. While reports suggest that during his April 2022 visit to Kyiv, Boris Johnson advocated against negotiating with Russia, citing the need to apply pressure on President Putin , these discussions occurred after the onset of Russia's full-scale invasion in February 2022. Therefore, they do not pertain to any potential agreements in 2021. So, there is no credible evidence supporting the claim that President Zelenskyy was willing to sign a submission to President Putin in 2021 or that Boris Johnson influenced him to abandon such an agreement.

Credit where credit is due - we agree on something.

Others will possibly have other definitions but my view is that he has a delusion of his own, and Russia's, importance in the world. He wants to grow the Soviet Union back and he can't stand the fact that he's been frozen out of international relationships (except with fellow dictators and corrupt regimes in BRICS). He can only strut his stuff within Russia but, even then, he has to be careful where he goes. The only thing people take notice of is when he threatens to use nuclear weapons, and he only does that because he hasn't got any other tools in his box. The EU (we can exclude Hungary and Slovakia, for obvious reasons) want nothing more to do with him. He lost that gamble and Russia's economy is paying the price. He's now a political has-been with no route back. Eventually, Russia will realise that they are better off without him.